OBAMA APPEARS ON “THE VIEW”

Barak Obama will appear on today’s edition of The View and talks about the controversial comments of his long time pastor Jeremiah Wright. During the ABC daytime television show, Obama says, "I never heard him say some of the things that have people upset". But the Democratic presidential candidate also suggests he may have left Wright’s church if he had not retired this year. Wright is getting criticism for slamming materialism in the pulpit and then retiring in luxury.

WRIGHT’S RETIREMENT HOME

Wright is getting criticism for slamming materialism in the pulpit and then retiring in luxury. Fox News is reporting that Jeremiah Wright is about to move into a large 10,000-square-foot home in a gated community in suburban Chicago. Tax experts say the deal was set up in an unusual way because Wright first sold the land to his church which then turned around and financed it with a $10 million line of credit. Church officials refused to discuss the specifics of the home it’s building for Wright or the way it was financed.

REWRITING THE BIBLE

A pastor in the Anglican church has published a collection of Bible stories rewritten for the modern reader. In Robert Harrison's book The Rev Must Know Stories Jesus is born in an overcrowded house, Eve is sex-obsessed and Goliath is a celebrity binge drinker. Harrison preaches at St John's in Hillingdon, West London. Critics complain that the book distorts the facts.

OBAMA TALKS ABOUT HIS FAITH

Senator Barack Obama took time to defend his longtime pastor, Jeremiah Wright today. He told a crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina, “In the last couple of weeks my church became a source of controversy.. My pastor did say, my former pastor said some very objectionable things when I was not in church on those days… they find five or six of his most offensive statements and boil them down onto a 30-second recording and replay them over and over on television.”

At a town hall-style meeting Obama was asked about the role that Jesus played in his life. The presidential candidate said, “I’m a Christian. What that means for me is that I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins, and his grace and his mercy and his power, through him, I can achieve everlasting life… I think it’s very important to think that you do not have to have the same faith as me to be a moral person – there are a lot of Jewish people who are as moral, or more moral than I am, there are a lot of Muslims who are decent kind people. I don’t think they are any less children of God.”

HANNAH MONTANA “LOVES JESUS”

Miley Cyrus, star of Disney’s Hannah Montana show, says she loves Jesus. In a YouTube video with Mandy Jiroux, the best friends answered questions from fans. One of the questions was whether they are Christians. Miley responded, "Yes! We love Jesus! Happy Easter! He died for our sins. That’s how awesome he is. Jesus rocks! She dances for Jesus. I sing, dance and act for Jesus! ... Now that I think about it, I do everything for Jesus. We make the YouTube videos for Jesus. We’re Christians! We’re all about it." See the Video

WRIGHT SKIPPING TEXAS, TOO

Jeremiah Wright won’t pick up his award in Texas after all. Barack Obama's former pastor planned to visit Fort Worth this Saturday to be honored by Brite Divinity School. But he’s cancelled that appearance along with plans to speak at a Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston on Sunday. Wright already nixed a Florida trip, blaming security concerns. He says the Texas visit was dropped for the same reason.

PARENTS PRAY WHILE GIRL DIES

An investigation is underway in Weston, Wisconsin into the death of 11-year-old Madeline Neumann. Prosecutors are considering filing charges against Dale and Leilani Neumann after they allowed their daughter to die rather than seek medical help. She had a treatable form of diabetes. An autopsy shows Madeline had probably been sick for month, enduring symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and weakness. The Neumann’s say their only effort to help her was pray and that the girl died because they did not have enough faith. They don’t attend any organized church but hold a regular Bible study in their home.

OBAMA CHURCH: ISRAEL GUILTY OF GENOCIDE

An anti-Israel letter written by an Palestinian activist letter has turned up on the website of Barack Obama's Chicago church. It’s in the newsletter of the Trinity United Church of Christ from June of last year. Originally printed in the Palestine Times, a pro-Palestinian newspaper, the article is called titled An open letter to Oprah because she had agreed to visit Israel with Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. It claims the Jewish state worked with South African creation of an "ethnic bomb" that would kill "blacks and Arabs." It accuses Israel of "genocide and ethnic cleansing”.

OBAMA PASTOR CANCELED

Barack Obama's long-time pastor won’t be speaking at Bible-Based Fellowship Church in Tampa Bay, Florida as planned. Jeremiah Wright was supposed to be the featured speaker at the church's 10th anniversary celebration revival. The pastor says it’s an issue of security concerns. The local sheriff’s office backed out of plans to provide that security. Recent videos have surfaced showing Wright making inflammatory and racially divisive sermons.

GORBACHEV STILL AN ATHEIST?

The Russian news agency Interfax has published an article saying former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev denies reports he has become a Christian. A variety of news services reported Gorbachev’s recent visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy was an expression of his faith. But Interfax claims the last communist leader of the Soviet Union is still an atheist and his visit was as a tourist and not a pilgrim.

THEY SAID IT: JOHN HAGEE

My statements regarding the Catholic Church have been grossly mischaracterized. I never called the Catholic Church “the anti-Christ” or a “false cult system.” I was referring to those Christians who ignore the Gospels. - Pastor John Hagee in an interview with the New York Times

THEY SAID IT: HILLARY CLINTON

“He would not have been my pastor. we don’t have a choice when it comes to our relatives. We have a choice when it comes to our pastors and the churches we attend.” - Hillary Clinton on the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s long-time pastor

WHAT ABOUT OBAMA’S NEW PASTOR?

Barak Obama’s new pastor (Otis Moss) was asked by NPR if he agreed with Obama’s old pastor (Jeremiah Wright) that the US is "culpable in the spread of HIV". Wright has said, "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color". Moss did not renounce or distance himself from the comment. Instead, he said, “I think that, in terms of that particular narrative, I think that we need to be very, very honest that our government has the ability to place a Hubble telescope in the sky but we have not had the political will to shut down drugs coming into our community.” During his Easter Sunday service, Moss compared Wright’s ordeal to a crucifixion.

BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Here’s the Christianity Today picks for books of the year.
Apologetics/EvangelismThere Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His MindAntony Flew with Roy Abraham Varghese
Biblical StudiesThe Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus TraditionPaul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd
Christianity and Culture: Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American EliteD. Michael Lindsay
Christian LivingCaring for Mother: A Daughter's Long GoodbyeVirginia Stem Owens
The Church/Pastoral LeadershipThe Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your MinistryAjith Fernando
FictionQuaker SummerLisa Samson
History/BiographyA Secular AgeCharles Taylor
Missions/Global AffairsDisciples of All Nations: Pillars of World ChristianityLamin O. Sanneh
SpiritualityThe Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the WayEugene H. Peterson
Theology/EthicsResounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of MusicJeremy S. Begbie

CHURCHES ATTACKED

Someone vandalized seven churches around the Gardner, Massachusetts area. Anti-Christian graffiti included used expletives along with the name of Jesus and Mary and painted several upside down crosses. Police say the messages included "Jesus is dead" and "You brainwashed zombies." Churches hit include Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist and Baptist churches.

BIBLE COIN DISCOVERED

Archaeologists in Israel say a shekel dating back to the days of Jesus has turned up. The silver coin is the kind once used in the second Temple built in the sixth century BC. It was found near the Old City of Jerusalem in a 2000-year-old drainage ditch.

MILLION DOLLAR PRIZE

The 2008 Templeton Prize goes to Michael Heller. He's a philosophy professor and Roman Catholic priest in Poland. Besides the honor, he gets more than $1.6 million to spend any way he likes. Heller plans to set up an academic center that will promote research and education in science and theology. More Info

BOYCOTT OF FORD

Donald Widmon’s American Family Associate has ended it’s boycott of Ford Motor Company. The activist group says Ford has agreed to stop supporting gay organizations and parades and promoting same-sex marriage. Ford says it will continue treating individuals equally, regardless of sexual orientation.